


There's No Such Thing

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 21:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8463754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Daryl is skeptical about 'magic'





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'magic'

There's No Such Thing

by Bluewolf

"There's no such thing as magic!" Daryl sounded as intolerant as only a teenager in the throes of rebellion against the adult world could. "It's all just trickery - illusion - misdirection! Oh, I admit it's clever - but it's not magic! There's always an explanation of how it's done!"

"Yes," Blair agreed. "A lot of the time it isn't magic; a lot of the time there is an explanation. But sometimes... Daryl, there have been times I've seen things - "

"Blair, I wouldn't have expected you to fall for a self-styled magician's trickery."

"I'm not thinking about stage magicians," Blair said. "I'm not thinking about this country. I'm thinking about some of the so-called primitive tribes that still live in remote areas of regions like the Amazon rain forest."

"Aren't they so superstitious that they think simple technology like... oh, a flashlight... is magic?"

Blair chuckled. "Daryl, I said 'so-called'. Yes, there may still be one or two very small tribes that haven't had any exposure to 'civilization', and there are several who are still living the hunter-gatherer life _from choice_ but a surprising number of the men - and probably some of the women - are well educated."

"Oh."

"But even the best educated of those tribes still have, trust, and respect, a shaman. And I've seen what a gifted shaman can do. Yes, some of it is the power of suggestion. I don't deny that. But I once saw a tribesman, severely injured by a wild animal and unconscious, who recovered after a shaman treated him - and all the shaman did was speak to him. The injuries were so severe that I expected Tupac to die without regaining consciousness. I wouldn't have expected him to walk again, assuming he did survive, even after the best treatment an American hospital could have given him. All Rimachi did, other than speak to Tupac, was wash the wounds with a herbal infusion - I don't know what herbs he used - to counter any infection Tupac might have contracted from the teeth and claws of the animal.

"I grant you that suggestion was probably a factor once Tupac regained consciousness - for he did come round, and by the time I left the tribe to return to Rainier, Tupac was walking again, with every expectation of being fully recovered and able to hunt again in another two or three months.

"Daryl, I can only describe Rimachi's actions - his initial treatment, while Tupac was still unconscious - as magic. I've seen more than one shaman in action, but Rimachi was far and away the most effective.

"And Jim knew one when he was with the Chopek - Incacha. From what Jim has told me about him, Incacha was another very gifted shaman, who could do things that defied explanation.

"Magic - real magic - is something wonderful that happens without explanation. It's rare... but it does exist; and I hope that one day you'll get the chance to encounter it."

Daryl looked thoughtfully at him. If his father had said that, Daryl knew he would have been very doubtful; but this was Blair. And if Blair said that something like magic was possible... then it was.


End file.
